More than one beautiful view ….

The sun was shining into our room and we knew it was time to get up and get going. So a little while later we were on our way to the breakfast room where we quickly found a table for two, got ourselves some coffee, tea and juice and went to explore the buffet. There was quite the array of savoury and sweet items and we both filled a plate with savoury breakfast foods. I had ham, Cherry tomatoes and Mozzarella balls, some Quiche, a piece of Fritatta and some Insalata Russa, which is basically cubed veggies in a mayonnaise sauce and some really nice, old fashioned Panini. Tom had about the same plus Mortadella, Salami and a hard boilded egg.

We sat down, tried our food and it was pretty tasty. There were so many more things on the buffet so we went back for more. Tom’s second plate was a bit boring, some toast and ham and cheese. I tried the sweet selection, which had a jam filled croissant, a chocolate Panini and a small piece of “green cake” which was a little too much on the dry side for me. Breakfast done we headed back to our room, applied loads of sunscreen, took our day-bags and off we went to the pier to catch our boat to Portofino. It was a picture perfect day and we walked through the little park and up to the pier and were happy not to have to get in line for tickets as we had purchased those at the hotel.

We got in line and a few minutes later our boat arrived, a lot of people got off and we kept our fingers crossed for an outside seat and low and behold we got on at the front of the boat. It did not take long and our boat started to move and we were on our way. We had chosen our seats wisely and sat on the side that was towards the land and had a great view. The boat ride to Portofino is only a short one, it takes about 15 minutes and soon we turned in to Portofino. Seeing it from the sea was absolutely stunning and if you have ever been to Universal’s Portofino hotel, I have to admit that they did an awesome job recreating the real Portofino. There were loads of small boats and some pretty big ones in the harbour, but it still looked awesome.

Soon it was time to get off the boat and we first stopped and looked around us. It was such a beautiful sight to see. Then we decided to do those sights that we had hoped to do while it was still early and not as hot as we had heard it would become. So when we saw the steps up to the church we started climbing them. They were steep and a bit uneven but soon we made it up to the church and paused for a little bit to catch our breath again. The sun was standing right behind the church and gave it an unreal lighting. Again, it was beautiful. There were mosaics in the front of the church made from stones and they just looked wonderful. And when we got to the churchyard you had an awesome view all over Portofino.

We could not get enough of it and have all the photos to prove it. After we had taken in the view we walked up to the church and inside. It was so light in there. The white walls made it airy and spacious. We lit some candles as we always do for the family members that have already left us and these candles were special. You paid for the candle and it was an “electric” 24 hour candle. When you put it in the holder it would start to glow for the next 24 hours. Never seen it that way before but what a neat idea, no pollution and no waste. Once the candles had been lit we walked outside again and over to the other outlook in front of the church.

There you had a view of the steep rocks going down to the sea. Another awesome sight and we took it in for quite some time. We then headed past the church and came to a small cemetary which we visited as well. It was so interesting to see the high ladders that were there to take care of the graves that were high up on the walls. And after we had looked around a bit we walked back to the main path and followed it to our other point of interest, the Castello Brown, which sits on top of the hill and gives you a stunning view of the town. We walked along the path which was narrow and went up and down with a few sets of steps in between until we got to the path down to the public beach, but seeing how many steps we would have to climb down and then up again we gave it a miss.

We actually had just wanted to go to Castello Brown, but we saw a signpost for a lighthouse and bar and decided to go there since the signpost said it was only 300 metres. Well, 300 metres it might have been, but it went up and down and there were lots of stairs involved and it took us about 20 minutes to finally reach the lighthouse. There we were rewarded with the most stunning views of the sea and a closed bar. You could even see parts of Santa Margherita where we stayed. We stopped for a while until we had taken in the amazing view and caught our breath again, before we slowly slowly walked back to Castle Brown. We took our sweet time and stopped to look at some of the buildings along the way, smiling at the painted on windows on some.

We actually had just wanted to go to Castello Brown, but we saw a signpost for a lighthouse and bar and decided to go there since the signpost said it was only 300 metres. Well, 300 metres it might have been, but it went up and down and there were lots of stairs involved and it took us about 20 minutes to finally reach the lighthouse. There we were rewarded with the most stunning views of the sea and a closed bar. You could even see parts of Santa Margherita where we stayed. We stopped for a while until we had taken in the amazing view and caught our breath again, before we slowly slowly walked back to Castle Brown.

Finally we made it to the Castle, walked up to the entrance and paid for entrance and then set out to explore. The castle sits on top of a hill and is surrounded by well kept up gardens. We walked around then inside the castle, which was really well preserved and you could go from room to room and some of the windows would even open to surprise you with wonderful views of Portofino and the sea. We then went out to the rose garden and over to a little stand overlooking Portofino again. It is pretty hard to pull your eyes away from the view of the city, as it is truly beautiful. We then walked up to the upper floor and explored the area, then on the way down stopped to use the restroom and finally we were through and walked back down.

And we were lucky we did, as when we left a lot of people were arriving at the castle and we had just experienced it empty and kind of to ourselves. Soon we found ourselves walking past the church we had visited earlier and it was swamped with tourists. We used the small road down to the town instead of the stairs and soon found ourselves on the town square. We explored a bit more, looked into some of the shops, but we were thirsty and a bite to eat could not have hurt, so we were looking for a restaurant. The ones that were open were pretty full, so we decided to just get a drink. There was a nice bar right at the sea’s edge and it offered seating in the shade, so we walked up and got a seat towards the back of the outside seating.

A woman handed us a menu and we ordered a bottle of still water to quench our thirst, and each one got a cocktail as well. Tom ordered a Mojito, while I stuck with something I knew and liked, a Pina Colada. When the waitress came out with the water, she also brought out a tray of black olives, small Pretzel sticks, peanuts and chips. And while we then sipped our drinks we kept munching on the chips and stuff and when we had finished our drinks we had had a nice nibble meal as well. We finally paid our bill and walked out into the town as well. And while we walked around we came across a second church and walked up to it as well. There were the same beautiful mosaics made out of stones as well and soon we found ourselves inside the beautifully decorated church. After checking out the church we were ready to head back to Santa Margherita, but while we walked towards the town square we saw the boat leaving. Ups, remembered the time wrong.  Well, I had not had any ice cream in Portofino yet, so we looked around for a Gelateria which had outdoor seating. We finally found one, but it was all empty. Thought about it for a moment, but  then decided to just sit down and have a break. We went through the menu and Tom decided on an espresso and a  mixed ice-cream, Pistacchio and Lemon, while I got a Diet Coke and a sundae, the Paciugo, a traditional local speciality with vanilla ice-cream, strawberry sorbet, fresh raspberries and strawberries, Morello cherries and whipped cream.

Sounded good, looked good and was delicious. And it took us just enough time to get ready in time for the next boat back to Santa Margherita. So we slowly strolled towards the pier and another boat was just leaving. We stayed back in the shade for a while and then walked up to the man who was in charge to ask if the next boat was ours and he told us it was and why not get right in line here as it would be here in just a matter of minutes. That was what we did. Soon, a line had formed behind us and it did not take much longer, the boat came in and lots of people got off and we were first in line to get on. Score. Needless to say we secured a great spot at the front of the ship and had a great view on the way back to Santa Margherita.

Once back we headed for the hotel for a little break and a shower. About an hour and a half later we were ready to brave the heat again. This time we wanted to check out the large church that was just at the beginning of the main shopping street, which had been closed the day before. Now we were in luck, it was open and it again was another beautiful church. We spent quite some time exploring it before we walked around the town a bit in search of the “other” hotel that I had had booked before I had decided to change to the Lido Palace. We had a bit of trouble finding it, and it looked nice enough but were happy to have changed as this one did not offer AC. Next stop was a speciality shop where we found the Portofino Lemonade I had had and had so enjoyed the day before. We picked up four bottles to take home as a souvenir and then strolled around a little more. By then we were ready to have dinner, but as it turned out, all the restaurants only opened at 6.30pm and we still had 45 minutes to kill. So we took our shopping back to our hotel, took another little break and then shortly before 6.15 we headed out again. We wanted to try a pizza place opposite the restaurant we had had dinner the night before, but they still looked closed while Angolo 48, where we had had dinner the night before was already preparing tables. Why not ask if they had a table for two. And low and behold they did and we were seated immediately, which resulted in a lot more people asking for tables.

We ordered our drinks and started studying the menu and soon our drinks, a bottle of still water, another local tap beer for Tom and the Portofino Lemonade for myself and a basket full of wonderful, freshly baked cubes of Focaccia were put on the table. And after asking a few questions about the menu we placed our order and waited for our yummy dinner. Tom had ordered the Caprese Salad, slices of fresh tomatoes, topped with a whole Buffalo Mozzarella and some Basil leaves. The server brought out some salt and pepper and some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress it. I had asked about the Aranzini and ordered one as the server had mentioned they were pretty big and she was right – it was the size of my fist and super yummy.

For our main course we both had ordered Gnocci, Tom had the ordered some that came in a mildly spiced curry sauce with king prawns. I was less adventurous and ordered Gnocci with Gorgonzola Sauce and radicchio. I was both pretty happy to only have had one Aranzini, when our mains were brought out, as the portion was pretty big. And both of them were delicious. Needless to say that we cleaned our plates. I had my heart set on dessert that night, so even though I was already pretty full I just wanted to try one. Tom just decided on having an Espresso and a digestive, which was a liqueur made from olives. It sounded interesting enough and he absolutely loved it. My heart was set on trying the Tiramisu, which was out of this world tasty, but pretty filling and I only got through half of it. After dinner we slowly strolled through the little village again, picked up a few bottles of the Portofino Lemonade in a deli and some cookies before making our way back to the hotel.

When we got back the sun started to set and we had an awesome view of the sunset from our hotel room. Since we were moving on the next day I started packing and Tom tried some of his new Italian beers while I did so. Later we watched a little TV and after a last peek out the window to see the lovely lit village we called it a day at around 11pm.